The typical lifetimes of light poles and their lamps are thirty years and ten years respectively. During the lifetime of a light pole, the individual components such as the fixture, lamp, and lamp gear require multiple manual servicing activities, which is quite costly due to closing down the street and getting a technician within the reach of the fixture (i.e. the removable luminaire module). Today, most of current light poles still consist of gas discharge lamps that need to be replaced on average every three years. Cleaning of the reflector and the optical window of the fixture also happens during the lamp replacement process. Maintenance of outdoor lighting is labour-intensive as the lighting fixtures need to be accessed at a height above the road. This means at least a part of the street needs to be closed down and a technician needs to be brought within the reach of the lamp. In most countries two people are required to perform such an action because of safety procedures.
Another type of light pole that is beginning to penetrate the outdoor lighting market is the LED-based light pole, which employs an LED-based lamp comprising an array of LEDs instead of a gas discharge lamp. LED-based light poles have increased lifetime and reduce the need for maintenance. The LED-based light source lasts at least as long as the driver of the light source. This results in less maintenance and can even eliminate the need for full replacement of the lighting fixture during maintenance. With the advantage of low maintenance, LED-based lighting fixtures could therefore include the driver and become “sealed for life” products. The light post itself usually has a lifetime of approximately 30years as it only contains electrical wiring and robust passive components such as a fuse and wiring.
However, there is also a trend for outdoor lighting systems to become more intelligent by incorporating sensors and/or connection to a communication network such as the Internet. For instance, any of a large variety of sensors such as a photocell, camera and/or GPS unit can be incorporated into a component of a light pole. Further, in the age of connectivity and the “Internet of things” (IoT), more and more light poles can also be equipped with a wireless communication unit such as a GPRS receiver or transceiver, allowing the light pole to be monitored and/or controlled remotely through the Internet. As big data and the IoT grow rapidly, the value of collecting data is becoming evident. Intelligent light poles are very attractive as hosts for third party sensors and communications because the light poles can provide power and access to the Internet.
One issue is that the economic lifetime of these communication modules and sensors is typically far less compared to the lifetime of LED lighting systems, and hence will need more frequent replacements. For instance for IoT applications, the economic lifetime of the IoT products is far less compared to the technical lifetime, which means these devices require more frequent replacement or upgrades. Hence although LED-based lighting is reducing the need for maintenance, the trend for sensor and communication functionality goes against this in that the light pole will need more frequent physical access to the light pole head for maintenance or upgrades. Without taking further measures, this means increased replacement and maintenance costs for outdoor lighting systems that enable IoT services or the like. Depending on the environment, servicing and/or replacing parts can be more costly than the parts themselves. In some cases, the cost of the parts is even negligible compared to the cost and effort required to service and/or replace parts.